In June, the head of the National Health Service (NHS) in England, which operates the public healthcare system, announced a commitment to incorporate robots into most minimally invasive surgeries by 2035.
This is an effort to reduce patient wait times and free up beds for operations like joint replacements and hysterectomies. Currently, 1 in 5 (or 70,000) minimally invasive surgeries are robot-assisted in the UK annually, the NHS said in its announcement. The goal is to raise that number to 90%, or 500,000, a year in the next decade.
In comparison, the US is the world leader in robotic surgery, with the American Hospital Association reporting 2.6+ million surgeries in 2024 involving robots from da Vinci, the leading medical robotics company in the US. That figure is up 17% from the year prior.
The surgical robot market is worth $3 billion, according to a 2023 analysis by consultancy Bain and Company, which also reported that 78% of US surgeons are interested in adopting the technology.
Today’s challenges. Robots bring a lot of benefits to surgery, like 3D cameras and precision tools that don’t shake, unlike human hands. These tools can make smaller incisions that require less recovery.
Robotics adoption is largely due to “the precision, the safety, the stability that a robot provides beyond what the human hand is capable of, that allows you to treat patients with better outcomes and to reduce risk,” David Fischel, CEO of robotics company Stereotaxis, told us.
But robotic tools are also expensive. Devices can cost between $500,000 and $2.5 million each, which also drives up individual costs per procedure. A 2023 study found robot-assisted abdominal surgeries cost an average of $18,300 compared to an average of $16,000 for laparoscopic ones.
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Maintenance and service fees can add $100,000 per device each year, too.
On top of that, Harish Yalamanchili, a surgeon at vascular clinic Coastal Vein Care in California, said it’s hard to implement robotics at times because many surgeons are used to and skilled in laparoscopic surgery, which involves hands, a small tube, and a camera. Both types of procedures produce similar outcomes, research shows.
Robotic tools can also only be used about 15–20 times before they need to be replaced, according to medical device company Steris. Yalamanchili, however, said his clinic has laparoscopic tools that are 10 years old and still safe for surgery.
Still, Yalamanchili said “robotic surgery has a wonderful place for especially advanced surgeries.”
Future outlook. The digital surgery revolution is dependent on robotics in the operating room (OR), Fischel said, as the tools act as a foundation for enhanced technologies. For example, he said robotics could allow physicians to connect and collaborate remotely when hospitals are shortstaffed.
Robotics also helps power AI. When everything is digitized in a robotics-centric OR, data storage becomes easier and therefore, insights that can be gleaned from that data during the procedure can enhance quality of care, Fischel said.
“How does the computer help focus the physician’s eyes on the important information and warn them about potential risks, help them in the decision-making process about what to do next?” he said. “That is the most exciting thing of what’s [going to be] playing out over the next decade.”